[Case Study] #1 Reason for Under-Performing Trainees

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This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on becoming a better trainer through Universal Learning Transfer Maximization (ULTM).

Long story short…trainees will be singing your praises as they soak up the material.

Think about this…

Why do you even get up and teach?

The LIE I’m getting at here affects your level of motivation…

And here’s the kicker…

…it also affects your training evaluations…

EVEN IF you don’t think you get poor evaluations!

I’ll talk a lot more about evaluations in a second…

But, first, here’s the BIG LIE…

Maybe you’ve learned a certain way and had a lot of success…

…or you are drawn to a particular learning style.

…or there was a teacher that you really liked and so you try to emulate that.

You know what we do when we buy into that lie in order to try to achieve what we would call “success” in training?

We try to teach the way we learn…

…which creates A TON of problems.

(NOTE: Want to find out what your learning style is, so you can find out which styles you may be neglecting in the classroom? Take the 5-minute Learning Styles quiz and become the inclusive trainer your students need in any industry or classroom — including the FREE video assessment we use to be more inclusive and EFFECTIVE. Learn more about the “Learning Styles Quiz” here.)

The first big problem is it actually makes us LESS EFFECTIVE…

…that’ because we instinctively teach in the same style in which we learn.

That’s why so many trainers and teachers buy-in to the misconception…

For many it can create and perpetuate misunderstanding for students, which is behind the number one reason a good percentage of your students WON’T learn as effectively.

It can even cause some students to be labeled “Learning Disabled”…

Case in point…I taught high school math for 7 years.

In the summer, I tutored students form other classrooms…

…it baffled me how many students were told…

…“You’re just not good at math…

…or, “You need a tutor…it doesn’t come naturally to you…”

…or, worst of all, “You just aren’t going to make it.”

Then, I came to find out that they simply had a different learning style than the teacher…

…once we figured that out and addressed it (taught in that style), the student shined!

Same is true in the corporate world…

…I was a trainer of trainers for 13 years at a corporation of 5000.

…I can’t tell you how many times I got this phone call…

…”Jason, we have a new employee that we are considering ‘letting go’ because she can’t pass the tests. Can you tutor her?”

Time and time again, it wasn’t because the trainee was stupid, or a bad fit, or should be let go…

…it was because the trainee learned differently than the way the trainer was presenting the material.

…when it comes to training and teaching, it’s knowing who you are…it’s knowing your learning style and then figuring out how to address the styles that are not natural to your own.

Most trainers and teachers out there are trying to teach the way they would learn best…

Most instructional designers do the exact same thing…

Why?

Because we’re drawn to our own style. It’s how we’ve gotten by…how we can actually learn…

To help understand this better, we created a learning styles quadrant (based on this case study) to explain this in more detail. Watch this to learn more.

I talk about the learning styles quadrant in this video.

…and one of the lessons from the quadrant is that we are often times very tempted to teach only in the style that works for us…

…you are interested in writing curriculum and using those teaching tools that work best for the quadrant of your natural style, those things really stand out to you.

So, what does all this have to do with evaluations?

Well, good evaluations results from a lot of things, but one of the reasons people have poor evaluations of their training or teaching is because their students have a lot of bad experiences (with learning)…

…we’ve found that this happened VERY OFTEN from trying to learn from a trainer that teaches in a style they’re not.

…we call this non-inclusive learning.

And in a real, general way, students can feel very helpless learning in someone else’s style…

Learning in their own style can feel like putting on “learning glasses”…

Targeting their learning style can help them “see the learning” more clearly…

But not everybody has an issue with evaluations…

…though the statistics routinely put learning and ROI in the top five of the common issues companies face, a lot of trainers just don’t have an “evaluation issue” because…they’ve got good “smiley face evals”.

In other words, their students thinks it’s “fun and games” and they enjoyed the trainer…

What our thousands of case studies have shown us…

…is it’s not just about smiley faces and fun…we’re talking about learning retention one, three or even six months later…

That applies to EVERYONE who isn’t reaching all learners.

What are your students retaining?

When you are not being inclusive…it creates a sense of distrust.

The result is people tune out quickly…

…you end up losing em’, really quickly.

What else happens with this distrust?

They zone out, pretend to learn whatever tip, tidbit or thought you are trying to connect with them on…and it’s a FAIL.

Trust comes when they sense you are INCLUSIVE.

When YOU aren’t very comfortable teaching in a style outside of your own, and you are trying to teach with predominantly your own learning style, the result is, a student response like this…

Seriously…this is how they feel… Even when they seem to be following along (we know because we’ve asked them).

This is why many of us have mastered the “fake listening face”?

OR, you are making them VERY uncomfortable, but you have no idea this is happening…

…and then things (results) you are hoping to have happen as a result of your training don’t happen.

You just don’t (or didn’t) have the SYNTHESIS you wanted or needed to have.

Then it snowballs because you’re not happy either. You try even harder to be like some other “SUCESSFUL” trainer, which perpetuates the cycle.

This is why this LIE so important to understand!

By seeking to be more comfortable or happy in other learning styles when you’re teaching, you see a direct correlation to your success.

And what’s the TRUTH?

It’s in learning, knowing and being TRUE to how the students learn.

I talk more about how we do this in this video.

The “True Learning Styles Model” is also something we cover extensively in Bullseye Learning Styles training. So if you’re at all interested in targeting all learners simultaneously (or if you want to transform a boring, disconnected training into an engaging, rock star classroom), definitely check it out.

Taken it before? Take it again, especially if you don’t remember what you are or if it didn’t seem right …

When you take it, answer as your nine years old self…

…before you were affected by all this stuff.

Once you do, and you know how to teach in that style, this will help you, at any point along your teaching journey…

If you have been training professionally, this will change things…

If you are just about to teach your first big class, this will help…

… this elevates everyone and anyone.

Great training changes the game and opens doors of opportunity for both teacher and student.

We’ve got some great further details about where your styles falls with the “Learning Styles Quadrant”, that we will talk more about in blog #2 and blog #3.

Use the quadrant, to help you shine when you are training and when you are learning…

(NOTE: Need Learning Styles training? See Rule the Room’s 15-Step Recipe to Reach Every Learner Each and Every Time by clicking here.)

About Jason Teteak

Jason Teteak is the Founder and CEO of Rule the Room Train the Trainer. Jason first made a reputation in the medical training industry, where he was known as “the Epic trainer of trainers.” In response to many requests, he began to offer personalized services and quickly developed a following as a private training coach and training consultant whose clientele includes elite institutions, universities, and top corporations.

In 20 years of working as a trainer and a trainer coach, he has helped more than 100,000 training professionals to “Rule the Room” and has appeared before more than 2,000,000 people. He’s won praise and a wide following for his original methods, his engaging style, and his knack for transferring training skills via practical, simple, universal and immediately actionable techniques.